My Splendid Concubine Read Online Free PDF Page A

hid his hands behind his back before he reached for her. He stared at her lips imagining what they would feel like against his, and his thoughts tangled into knots.
    “ I have seen you walking alone beside the river in the late afternoons,” she said.
    “ I enjoy those walks.” He managed to get out, knowing exactly why he was feeling nervous. “I miss your cooking.”
    He couldn ’t think of anything else to say, and his Mandarin was improving but wasn’t good enough for a conversation with depth to it.
    He didn ’t want her to leave.
    “ The prices are better this time of year,” she said. Her eyes avoided his. He watched her struggle to keep her shy smile under control. It was obvious she was enjoying this as much as he was.
    “ The vegetables further south are of a better quality than here,” she said. “Tell me what you want, and I will cook for you. Maybe you do not like walking alone beside the river. Maybe you would like me to join you.”
    Robert imagined Me-ta-tae walking beside him and cooking in the kitchen. When she had lived in the consulate with Hollister, she ’d done all the cooking. When Hollister had moved out, the good food went with him.
    “ I’m pleased that you came for a visit,” he said. “How is it on The Dawn with Mr. Hollister?”
    Her expression turned sour. Robert regretted driving her smile away.
    “I hate it!” she said. “I don’t like living on a boat.”
    Robert shifted from foot to foot. “Is there anything the consulate can do for you?” he asked.
    She stamped a foot. “I’m bored and lonely.”
    “ I understand,” he replied, and allowed one hand to escape from behind his back and touched Me-ta-tae’s bare arm above her wrist with his fingertips. Her skin was soft and inviting. He imagined her living in the consulate with him and saw her walking naked through the empty rooms. He blushed at his thoughts and jerked his hand back as if burned.
    “ Mr. Hollister won’t allow me to entertain my friends on his boat. And when he loses at horses or cards, he yells and hits me. He scares me when he does that.” She pulled up a sleeve to reveal a bruise on her upper arm.
    It was difficult for Robert to believe that Hollister had hit her. He was supposed to be a gentleman. Robert was sure that the gover nment did not tolerate such behavior. The bruise must have been from an accident.
    When she left, he bitterly felt the isolation and rea lized that he’d come to China without much thought. That night was full of lusty dreams. In the morning when he awoke, he discovered the blankets twisted around his legs, and he had an enormous erection.
    The next day, Robert spent most of the time thinking of his passion, which overpowered reason and conscience. He saw his life as a Christian full of constant warfare, because he had to struggle just to deny lust. However, it was a necessary fight to live soberly, righteously and godly.
     
    That Saturday, Guan-jiah said that Me-ta-tae was back and wanted to see him.
    He invited her inside. As night arrived, they sat b efore the fire in his room and he served jasmine tea. The look on her face told him that something was bothering her. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
    “ I’m worried that Mr. Hollister is going to abandon me,” she said, as tears filler her eyes.
    William Lay, who Robert had stayed with while in Shanghai on the way to Ningpo was the assistant to the British Vice-Counsel. Lay had told Robert what happened to women who lived with foreig ners.
    Hart couldn ’t stand the thought of Me-ta-tae becoming a whore for sailors. “Hollister would be stupid to abandon you,” he said. “I’d never do that.”
    He regretted his words immediately but said nothing to change their meaning. Instead, he imagined that Hollister would sail away, and she ’d be his woman. After all, she wasn’t Hollister’s wife in the Christian way. She was his concubine. He paid for her like buying a hen. It wasn’t like adultery.
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